


Coming back

by LadyFrost (orphan_account)



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-08 18:50:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3219620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/LadyFrost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if there had been complications when Steve got the injection of the Super Soldier Serum? And what if, 70 years later, he learns that Bucky is still alive? Just to find out that his best friend had been tortured and brainwashed by Hydra and turned into a weapon?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming back

_Steve remembered pain. Pain worse than he had ever felt before. A pain that took hold of his whole body. A pain that went down to his bones._

_It had been a mistake. A terrible mistake. He should've never agreed. He should've know that something would go wrong. His body wasn't able to take it. Was that any surprise? He should've known and he should've told Dr. Erskin._

_The next thing he remembered was a huge commotion, people talking over each other, some of them shouting, others numb with shock. Then he saw a really distressed looking Erskin who shook his head and kept apologizing. Steve wasn't able to respond in any way at all, the pain wrecking his body, covering him in a cold sweat and he wasn't able to move his limbs, try as he might._

_Then there was cold. It was so cold. But the pain was slowly subsiding and then there was only darkness._

* * *

The street was bustling with people even though it was late already.

Steve had a hard time trying to fight his way through the crowd and he was sure he would end up covered in bruises.

Getting outside was still a little adventure every time he did so and he had to pay close attention to the time to avoid getting late, because he got distracted so easily.

A woman jostled into him, threw a quick glance over her shoulder and then wrinkled her nose in a rather disgusted way. He was used to it, though. It had been the same back then. Nowadays there were just even more people to look at him like that, especially in a city as big as New York. However, wandering the streets alone at night had not been as dangerous at it was now. _Before_ there had only been the bullies who would beat him up in some back alley, but it had happened repeatedly that somebody had followed him all the way to his front door, or even offered him money – and threats – for things he'd never even thought about.

He hitched his rucksack up his shoulders when he reached his destination and looked around. At first all the flashing signs had kept him from falling asleep at night, not to mention the rumble of the cars and buses rolling through the streets at almost all times. Yet Steve had grown used to it and there were even times when he enjoyed sitting outside on his small balcony, watching the busy city life.

"Hey Rogers!"

He turned around and smiled when he spotted Natasha. She returned it with a grin and playfully pinched his arm when she reached him, her red curls bouncing around her face.

"You're early. Or I am late ... Whichever way you prefer it! However, I am sure you will be suprised by what I am going to tell you."

She was still grinning, grabbed his hand and pulled him into the diner they had agreed to meet at.

Natasha was a nice person. She had been a bit tricky to understand at first and Steve hadn't been sure how to behave around her, but they had established a friendship. She had also been assigned to take care of him and help him to get used to his new life. Steve had learned that she was rather loud at times and despised it when people asked her about her past. The only thing he knew, and that he had heard from Nick Fury, was that Natasha had worked as an assassin before she had joined what used to be Shield. Meaning that her past was a dark one and that's why Steve didn't bug her about it. He thought it best if she would tell him if she ever thought he had any right to know.

"Are you even listening?"

He startled out of his reverie and gave her an apologetic look.

"Sorry. I got distracted."

Natasha frowned, huffed out a breath and then handed him over an old photograph.

"You know him, right?"

Steve looked down at it and what he saw left him speechless. Why was she showing him this photograph? Why was she asking about it? _He_ was gone ... Long gone, Steve was sure. That had been the thing that had hit him hardest when Steve – quite literally – came back to life. That _he_ was gone. Forever lost.

He cleared his throath, trying to keep his emotions at bay and nodded once, never taking his eyes off the photograph.

"I am sorry Rogers. I guess I could've done this a bit more sensible, but I thought it best to be straightforward about it."

"'s fine."

She reached over the table and placed her hand on top of his, causing Steve to look up at her again. He found her smiling gently, but he still felt totally off balance.

"I am not showing you this or asking about him because I want to bother you or make you feel sad or anything... I take it you think he's dead?"

Steve looked at her incredulously, not sure what to make of that question. It was just plain rude and he pulled his hand away from Natasha's, leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah of course. It's highly unlikely that he's still alive... And even if he is, I doubt he would remember me..."

And that thought hurt even more than the thought about the possibility that Bucky was dead and buried already.

"He is not. James Barnes isn't dead."

He shook his head, sure that he had misunderstood her.

"I beg your pardon?"

"He's alive, Steven. I don't want to say that he's doing particularly well, but he's alive. And he is further from death than you might think."

Steve didn't know what to say. He just stared at the woman opposite from him, trying to wrap his mind about what she had just said.

_He was alive!_

Bucky was still living. Steve would be able to see him again. He would be able to apologize for just disappearing and never being able to tell Bucky what had happened, but ... What was Natasha implying with saying that he wasn't particularly well?

"Where is he? Why isn't he doing well? Can I see him? I need to see him! Natasha, you have no idea how important it is that I see him!"

He was already halfway out of his chair when she grasped his wrist and held him in place.

"Sit back down Rogers. I can understand that you're excited about this news, but it's not as easy as you might think."

"What - ? Why?"

Steve slowly lowered himself back down into his chair, staring at Natasha, feeling utterly confused.

"When he was serving in Europe, he had been captured by people of Hydra. Turns out they modified his body – his arm, actually – and then tortured and brainwashed him. He was working for them as an assassin – a rather successful one. Once his missions where done they always put him into cryo freeze. That way he was under control even when they had no work for him to be done."

Just the thought about it sent a shiver down Steve's spine. He couldn't even begin to imagine how it must have been to be put into cryo freeze over and over again. He had only been through it once and that was at a time where he had been barely conscious.

He pulled his hands into fists, accidentally scrunching up the picture of Bucky he was still holding, and bit down on his bottom lip.

Natasha looked over at him clearly worried and he pushed himself out of his seat again.

"I want to see him. Now."

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everything is clear and not confusing so far!? If you have any questions, please let me know! And sorry for the cliffhanger :D


End file.
